Want long-term healthy weight loss? Here’s ten simple strategies

September 4, 2009 Filed Under: Weight Loss

Why is that most if us find it incredibly difficult to lose weight but a few find it easy? Surely, if we want to lose several inches from our waistline in just a few short weeks, then we should just follow one of the many of the diets on the market today, if you believe their claims. I really believe that a different method is needed from such diets in order to successfully achieve healthy weight loss over the long term. In this article, I will share ten pointers that have helped me in my weight battle.

The one that is the most obvious strategy is generally to eat less. Most of us are not overweight because we eat small, appropriate portions but because we like to indulge or eat more calories than are necessary for our bodies.

Only eating less will most likely not help us lose much weight. It is also essential to check what we are eating. If we eat very little but it is high calorie, we will not be able to lose weight or to keep the weight off. A healthy life style and healthy eating habits are essential for long-term healthy weight loss. Choosing the right foods rather than foods that are full of fat or calories can change our weight and our health.

Essentially, we should cut down on sweets or maybe even cut them out of our diet altogether. Candy and sweets taste good and they are made to entice us, but they are high calorie bombs that prevent us from losing weight and keeping it off. We might think one piece of chocolate is so tiny, but instead of that one piece, we can have several healthy fruits that also fill our stomachs and add vitamins and minerals to our bodies.

Eating fast food is another big lifestyle hurdle to overcome. In our busy lives, there never seems to be enough hours in the day so grabbing some fast food on the way home or when we are tired seems like a good decision. Whilst it may be convenient, it is far from healthy and usually stacked in calories. We should try to avoid the fast food joints and go for meals that are healthy. It will make a big difference in meeting our healthy weight loss goals.

Exercise should always be added into our new lifestyle plan to help us stick to our healthy weight loss goal. We should all be able to include some form of exercise in our daily to do list. It just takes a little thought and planning and could be as simple as taking the stairs instead of the elevator, taking a walk at lunchtime or even joining a gym. Cutting back on the portions sizes and the calorie intake will is a good start to losing a few pounds but regular exercise, particularly increasing the heart rate steadily and breaking a sweat, will help to keep it off for the long term.

If you are like so many people, you are likely to at some point fall for candy or fast food and then the diet is over. Therefore, good advice for long-term healthy weight loss is support. Find support through a weight-loss support group, your family, friends or somebody that encourages you and helps you stay on track.

Setting achievable target and not expect big results in the first couple of weeks are two pointers to getting on the right track. Trying to lose 50 pounds in three months is not helpful if it is not realistic and you don’t have a plan. Make sure your weight loss plan is realistic and healthy. losing weight quickly, as many diet programs claim, is not healthy and does you no favors over the long term.

Successfully meeting a target, whether a few pounds lost weight or keeping to your new routine, deserves a reward. Being rewarded for an achievement reinforces our commitment to our goals and focuses the mind on achieving more success.

And finally, don’t try to take giant leaps from the start, as you will surely fail. Take small strides day by day that you can accomplish, cut back on the bad foods and soon you will feel the positive impacts of success in your healthy weight loss.

After battling her weight for many years, Barbara J. Silberman finally managed to find the right healthy weight loss formula for her and watched the pounds steadily drop off. Barbara lost 36 pounds in 8 months and now has her weight firmly under control. For more information, see Barbara’s web log for her secrets to losing weight.